Parents Want 15 Bused

October 14, 1992|by KATHARINE McKEE, The Morning Call

Several parents from Beltzville Lake Estates in Towamensing Township complained to the Palmerton Area School Board last night that the safety of their children is threatened because the district refuses to send a school bus into the private development.

Fifteen children attending Palmerton schools live in the development and must be shuttled by parents up to 2-1/2 miles to a bus stop at Deer Lane and Owl Creek Road. The stop is at a three-way intersection with only two stop signs and no shoulder.

"There is no place to park to drop off the kids and pick them up and no place for the children to stand while they wait for the bus," said Chet Edwards of 69 Lake Drive.

Edwards said parents with one child in high school and one in elementary school have to travel to the bus stop twice each morning and twice each afternoon.

The district is paid an allowance of $540 for each student from the state, some of which is to cover transportation costs, Edwards said.

"It doesn't seem fair," he said. "We pay taxes to the district yet we have to drive our students one-fourth of the distance to school. Maybe we should get an allowance."

William Meecham of 113 Pohopoco Circle said the road into the development is "desolate" and children walking to the bus stop are at risk of being attacked by bears and raccoons or being abducted by strangers.

"Safety should be a priority," he said. "We pay taxes to the district and that money is supposed to include safe transportation for our children."

Gary Behr, who is in charge of transportation for the district, said "it has always been the practice of the district not to travel into private developments."

Edwards said other districts, like Panther Valley and Tamaqua, send buses into private developments.

Palmerton buses do go into Little Gap Estates and Boulder Oaks in Lower Towamensing Township for students because both of those developments recently vacated their roads to the township, Behr said.

"Our intention would be to go in when your roads become public roads," Behr said.

Behr said the condition of the roads and liability are also a concern of the district.

Because the development is private, the township does not take care of the roads. The property owners are responsible for keeping the roads in good condition and plowing them in winter.

Board member Thomas Schmidt said the board has to think of the safety of all the children on the bus and questioned whether the roads would always be cindered and safe in winter.

The residents said most of the roads in the development are paved, a proposed bus route would be on paved roads, and residents pay for a contractor to plow and cinder the roads in winter.

The residents suggested a bus come in on Towamensing Road, then circle through the development on Forest Road and Lake Drive and exit on Towamensing Road.

Board President Marjorie Federanich said the board's transportation committee would look into the matter and then meet with the residents to try to solve the problem.